Pensioner fell from top to bottom of Highcross escalator after stumbling on step

An 83-year-old woman who suffered broken bones after falling down the escalators at Highcross wants to thank the pregnant Good Samaritan who rushed to help her.

Doreen Inglesant, of Sileby, was getting on the down escalator outside Next in the Leicester shopping centre when she fell down, knocking into her 11-year-old grandson and then rolling to the bottom of the escalator.

People rushed to her aid, including a heavily pregnant woman who took her coat off and rolled it up to put under Doreen’s head.

Doreen broke her left collarbone and left kneecap in the fall and spent more than a week in hospital before being moved temporarily into a care home.

She said: “My grandson stepped onto the escalator and I followed.

“I didn’t get on right and the step behind lifted my heel up and I fell.

“It was a pure accident. I hadn’t put my foot on properly.

“I went from top to bottom and I fractured my collarbone and broke a kneecap. It hurt a lot and I’m still in a lot of pain.”

The Highcross Shopping Centre in Leicester (Image: Google)

The accident happened on June 8 and while Doreen’s plaster cast has been removed now, she is still unable to walk and is staying in a care home while she recovers.

She said she wanted to thank the lady who put the coat under her head and get her coat back to her.

She said: “I’m desperate to find her because it was so good of her to give her coat to put under my head and we want to get it back to her.

“We didn’t get her name but we’d very much like to show her our appreciation.”

Doreen’s sister, Jane Rouse, 70, who lives near Groby Road in Leicester, was with Doreen when the accident happened.

She said: “My grandson, Jack, went on the escalator first and I remember asking Doreen if she was going to be alright and she said yes.

“The next thing I knew she was rolling down the escalator.”

Doreen in hospital

She said everyone in the area was helpful.

“Jack, who had broke Doreen’s fall, wasn’t badly hurt but he was in shock. The lady at the pretzel stand sat him down with a drink and a cone of pretzels.

“The pregnant woman with the coat was really kind. She was having labour pains and I think she was on her way to hospital.

“It was a nice coat and I’m sure she wants it back.

“She rolled it up and it was put under Doreen’s head. The paramedics came and put a neck brace on her and the coat got taken to the hospital.”

The coat is now with Doreen’s daughter, Carolyn Jerromes. If anyone can put the family in touch with the Good Samaritan they are asked to email her at cazjerromes@hotmail.co.uk or alternatively call reporter Tom Mack on 0116 3665 212.